March 26, 2018 Monday Night RAW results
The March 26, 2018 Edition of RAW is a Professional wrestling television show of the WWE's RAW brand, which took place on March 26, 2018 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Summary For weeks, Roman Reigns has disparaged Universal Champion Brock Lesnar for not showing up to Raw when he was supposed to. Last week, Reigns received a beating for his troubles, and now just two weeks from WrestleMania, The Beast returned under a cloud of irony: Despite the lifting of his temporary suspension, Reigns was the one who was seemingly nowhere to be found. That led to some savage gloating from Paul Heyman, who called Reigns’ manhood into question for failing to live up to his family's fighting legacy. To Heyman's surprise, however, Reigns appeared in the crowd, steel chair in hand and ready to throw down. Lesnar obliged, and while The Big Dog connected a few times with the chair, he was still too weakened from last week to put up much of a fight beyond that. Lesnar snatched Reigns out of the air when he attempted a Superman Punch off the steps and easily overpowered him, thanks in no small part to his use of the steel steps as an equalizer. After another series of hellacious chair swings to Reigns’ back, The Beast was seemingly done, though he returned for one final statement at the expense of his challenger: An F-5 atop the steel steps. Alexa Bliss played Nia Jax for a very long time, but the jig may well be up when The Irresistible Force faces Bliss for the Raw Women's Title at WrestleMania — at least, if we’re to take what Jax did to Bliss’ enforcer Mickie James as any indication. The Irresistible Force seized control early against James and refused to let up, though Mickie landed a chop-block on Jax's leg after Bliss diverted her challenger's attention at ringside. Mickie capitalized on the cheap shot by forcing Nia into the corner, though that also led to her downfall when Nia pressed Mickie off the turnbuckle and into a match-ending Samoan Drop. Alexa attempted to pile on with a post-match sneak attack, but The Goddess’ strike only served to anger Jax more, and the champion made a hasty retreat. With WrestleMania just around the corner, however, Alexa can only run so far before she finds herself face-to-face with Jax, ready or not. The Cruiserweights have been conspicuous by their absence the last several weeks on Raw, and with good reason: The revamped 205 Live has played host to a tournament for the vacant WWE Cruiserweight Championship, with Cedric Alexander and Mustafa Ali advancing to a final battle at WrestleMania. On Raw, however, “The Heart and Soul of 205 Live” put aside their friendly rivalry to team against Drew Gulak & TJP in a thrilling match that was half-exhibition, half-one-upsmanship between the two dynamic high-flyers. With 205 Live's General Manager/breathless hype man Drake Maverick at commentary, Ali and Gulak battled to a stalemate, leading TJP and Alexander to re-enter the fray. And even though Ali provided a crucial assist to his partner when Gulak ran interference, he ended the match a little bit on the sneaky side, making an under-the-table tag moments before a rolling Cedric blasted TJP with the Lumbar Check. A confused Alexander was forced to cede the ring to Ali, and he bemusedly watched from the apron as his WrestleMania opponent finished the job with an 054 to The Fil-Am Flash. A display of Ali's prowess for the WWE Universe, or a warning to Cedric of what awaits him at The Show of Shows? No reason it can't be both. The Miz's game plan leading into WrestleMania has been to pit Finn Bálor and Seth Rollins against each other in the hopes they'll be too preoccupied with each other to mount a proper challenge for the Intercontinental Title. Turns out two (or three) can play that game. Playing off escalating tensions between Miz and The Miztourage, who have been less than efficient in their duties lately, The Kingslayer arrived early to his and Bálor's “Miz TV” interview to stoke the animosity between the Intercontinental Champion and his supporting cast. He did is pretty good job of it, as an aggravated Bo Dallas muttered that Miz was a “phony A-Lister who can’t fight” into the mic after a lengthy berating. Bálor arrived to pile on by goading Dallas into insulting his boss a second time, leading to a slap across the face from The Awesome One that he tried to play off as “firing up” his enforcers. It seemed to work, too ... until Miz implied that he was a better Intercontinental Champion than Mr. Perfect, leading to some raised eyebrows from Curtis Axel. With Miz having shoved both his loafers in his mouth, he quickly found himself surrounded by The Miztourage and Rollins and Bálor — though the whole confrontation turned out to be a ruse to goad Seth and Finn into a beatdown from Bo & Axel. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson's arrival sent The Miztourage packing, and it kick-started a brawl among the three WrestleMania opponents that ended with Miz, Rollins and Bálor all fighting over possession of the Intercontinental Title. Finn came out on top in the scramble, knocking Rollins to the mat and stepping over him to hoist the championship above his head. Retribution may yet be in the cards for The Kingslayer, however, as he and Bálor will clash next week on Raw just six days before WrestleMania. With established WWE Superstars trying and failing to snap Asuka's undefeated streak, an intrepid local named Jamie Frost arrived on Raw with all the confidence of a multi-time champion, proclaiming that since she had never competed professionally, there was no way Asuka could possibly be ready for her. She was wrong. Her inexperience turned out to be her undoing, as a couple of hammer-fisted punches and one brazen slap to The Empress of Tomorrow led to a wicked kick that dropped Jamie Frost like a rock. 1-2-3, the streak continues, and Charlotte Flair awaits in New Orleans. Last week, “Woken” Matt Hardy seemingly vanished Bray Wyatt from the face of the earth at the end of the bizarre, Internet-breaking match known as The Ultimate Deletion. This week, The Woken One followed up his triumph by booking his ticket to WrestleMania as Raw's latest entrant in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. His warning that anyone who opposes him would face deletion for their actions may have seemed like bizarre bluster just weeks ago, but given the events of The Ultimate Deletion, it may well end up being a most potent premonition. Animosity has been brewing between Bayley and Sasha Banks for weeks, and the discontent between the two former Women's Champions has finally led to a collision course at WrestleMania: Bayley declared for the WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal, making her only the second Raw woman to do so after Banks. The Huggable One had less to say about their confrontation last Monday, which led to a tag team defeat, though she was adamant that she would refuse to let Sasha seize the spotlight any longer. Banks, unmoved, made no apologies for the me-first attitude she's taken throughout her career, nor was she fazed by Bayley's accusation that she continues to take advantage of The Huggable One because she can't win in a fair fight. But The Huggable One's final shot — that even though Banks was a four-time Raw Women's Champion, she never kept it for very long — was too much to bear, and the two finally threw hands, hurling each other into walls and lockers alike in a wild backstage brawl until they were separated by a crew of refs. Braun Strowman's search for a tag team partner at WrestleMania continues. Or maybe it's finished. Strowman certainly seemed to imply he had backup secured against Cesaro & Sheamus for The Showcase of the Immortals, though he refused to reveal who it was to The Bar unless The Alabaster Gladiator defeated him in their one-on-one match. Given that the mystery is robbing The Bar of their precious prep time, Sheamus certainly approached the bout with the appropriate sense of urgency, and even managed to tweak his opponent's knee in the early goings. Cesaro did his part, too, attempting to distract The Gift of Destruction each time the big man began to rev up. But when the ref got wise to The King of Swing, Cesaro backed off, a Brogue Kick went wide left and a Powerslam to Sheamus spelled the end of the match. So the question of Strowman's partner rolls on, though he's clearly happy to continue doling out These Hands to Cesaro & Sheamus in the meantime. Ronda Rousey's WrestleMania debut is a dream come true for The Baddest Woman on the Planet, but Triple H & Stephanie McMahon are already predicting that conflicting motives and rampant egos will lead to disaster for Rousey and her WrestleMania partner, Kurt Angle. The Baddest Woman on the Planet seemed entirely unmoved by Stephanie, who she referred to as “trust-fund tough” after Angle invited her to the ring later in the night. She was a bit more polite in refuting Paige's offer to recruit her into Absolution, who Paige believed could back her up better than Angle. When Paige attempted to sic her cohorts on “Rowdy” Ronda in response, however, all civility went out the window. Sonya Deville was swiftly dispatched, and Mandy Rose's attempt at a sneak-attack nearly landed her in an armbar until Angle talked his partner down. There may be no such restraint at WrestleMania. The Miztourage have a little more fight in them than their detractors give them credit for, but they're still a length or two behind The Bálor Club's resident good brothers. Despite a strong showing from Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel, the good brothers kept their tag team contest firmly in hand, though it did take them a little longer to earn the victory than they seemingly thought it would. Dallas provided a crucial assist to save The Axe Man from a Boot of Doom, though after a superkick from Luke Gallows felled the former NXT Champion at ringside, Axel was ripe for a Magic Killer that put the match away. One Superstar who has yet to find his way to WrestleMania is Elias, though that hasn't stopped him from promising “the performance of a lifetime” in 13 days. He certainly provided a solid opening act to whatever he does at The Showcase of the Immortals, dispatching a game Rhyno with Drift Away despite a run of blistering offense from the former SmackDown Tag Team Champion. Seemingly unsatisfied, Elias followed up by dropping Heath Slater with the same maneuver after The One-Man Band attempted to console his partner following the defeat. With a display like that, it's hard to imagine New Orleans won't walk with Elias. The only question is how far Elias will go once he gets there. With each passing week that The Undertaker fails to respond to John Cena's WrestleMania challenge, The Cenation Leader's attempts to goad The Deadman out of the void have flown dangerously close to blasphemy. That led Kane to defend his brother's honor, but even as Cena occupied himself with The Devil's Favorite Demon in a No Disqualification victory, he made it abundantly clear who he was fighting in his head. Not only did Cena sit bolt upright in the style of The Phenom after Kane busied himself with exposing the turnbuckle, he landed a vicious Chokeslam on The Big Red Machine. After his victory — via a savage Attitude Adjustment through a table — the 16-time World Champion expressed open shock that The Demon of Death Valley hadn't made his presence known at any point during a No Disqualification Match. Once again stoking the WWE Universe's love of The Undertaker into “Do Something” chants, Cena implored The Deadman more forcefully than ever to deliver a response of any kind. Silence, he said, was an insult to himself, Kane and everyone who ever believed in The Undertaker. “I hope for the sake of all that is good inside this ring I see you next week,” Cena said before he left. As one final jab to The Deadman, he unleashed one more mimic, performing Undertaker's signature throat-slash motion straight into the camera as Raw went off the air. It was a striking note to end on, but as the clock continues to tick, The Deadman's deafening silence may be all the response he's going to get. Results ; ; *Nia Jax defeated Mickie James (w/ Alexa Bliss) (7:11) *Cedric Alexander & Mustafa Ali defeated Drew Gulak & TJP (4:08) *Asuka defeated Jamie Frost (0:30) *Braun Strowman defeated Sheamus (w/ Cesaro) (7:54) *Bálor Club (Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson) defeated The Miztourage (Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel) (5:02) *Elias defeated Rhyno (w/ Heath Slater) (2:24) *John Cena defeated Kane in a No Disqualification match (14:04) Other on-screen talent Image Gallery Roman Reigns confronted Universal Champion Brock Lesnar 3-26-18 RAW 1.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 2.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 3.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 4.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 5.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 6.jpg Nia Jax v Mickie James 3-26-18 RAW 7.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 8.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 9.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 10.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 11.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 12.jpg Cedric Alexander & Mustafa Ali v Drew Gulak & TJP 3-26-18 RAW 13.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 14.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 15.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 16.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 17.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 18.jpg Asuka v Jamie Frost 3-26-18 RAW 19.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 20.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 21.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 22.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 23.jpg Braun Strowman v Sheamus 3-26-18 RAW 24.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 25.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 26.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 27.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 28.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 29.jpg Absolution confronted Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle 3-26-18 RAW 30.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 31.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 32.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 33.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 34.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 35.jpg Gallows & Anderson v The Miztourage 3-26-18 RAW 36.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 37.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 38.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 39.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 40.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 41.jpg Elias v Rhyno 3-26-18 RAW 42.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 43.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 44.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 45.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 46.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 47.jpg John Cena v Kane 3-26-18 RAW 48.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 49.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 50.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 51.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 52.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 53.jpg 3-26-18 RAW 54.jpg See also *Monday Night Raw *The show's venue details External links * Raw #1296 results * Raw #1296 at WWE.com * Raw #1296 on WWE Network Category:2018 television events